Director Craig Gillespie helmed the project, which was filmed in Mumbai and Atlanta in 2013.

In an interview with Digital Spy, producer Mark Ciardi described the origins of the story.

"I knew JB well before I was involved in the film," he explained. "I ran into him in 2007 at a function, asked him what he was doing. He said he was on his way to India to do a reality show to find a pitcher, and it was hard to hear in the room and I thought, 'This sounds like such a crazy idea'.

"About a year and a half later, he ended up in my office and said that these two kids succeeded in the contest and he got these kids signed. All of a sudden I'm, 'Wow, this sounds like it could be a great movie'. And that was the beginning of the story, and then there was digging in and figuring out what's in there beside the fact that his kids signed a pro contract - what would make it a movie, that's what you really have to find out and research, and we found out there were so many great elements there."

For star Madhur Mittal, the challenge of the film lay in portraying the life of a real person as opposed to a fictional character..

"Well, I've tried my best to stay true to the kind of guy that Dinesh is," the actor said. "He's very innocent and very shy and he's homesick, but when he's on the pitch and when you see him throw, his eyes have completely changed and that kindness has gone and it's all focus. And Rinku's character with Suraj has done so well, and is just completely different from Dinesh. Rinku is flamboyant and he's self-confident and he's adaptive, and Suraj just played him brilliantly with a lot of flair and a lot of sense of humor.

"It's a great chemistry. Two very different personalities in this situation were pushed together, and they were great friends. Normally I didn't think they would get along, but they've become the best of friends just because of this."

Describing working and training with the real life Dinesh, he continued: "Dinesh was with us when we were training for baseball. When I read it, I was really surprised that I did not know about the story already. What they've achieved is amazing and it hasn't been done by anybody before. And as an Indian, I was surprised that I didn't know about these stories of these boys who had achieved so much so quickly. None of my friends knew, none of my family knew. It's a story that needs to be told, especially to Indians, and also like you said, playing a character who was based on a real-life person brings its own set of challenges."

Ciardi revealed that for the American cast and crew, the experience of shooting in India was a challenge, and it helped that Hamm was experiencing India for the first time as Bernstein did.

"Well the great thing is the crew, Jon, all the Americans parallel JB's story. They get dropped into this world and the heat was unbelievable. It was May in Mumbai and other places - Agra, Lucknow - and I've never experienced heat like that so it wasn't the ideal time to shoot, but I think the experience that JB had, like the sounds, the sights, the heat, the cows, the honking, all those things... we felt like we were on his path as well, and it lent to Jon's characterisation of JB. He felt that he was going through the same thing JB did."

Mittal went on to describe the experience of working with Hollywood star Jon Hamm, saying: "With Jon, the thing is JB was not taking care of the boys at first - with Jon he was always helpful, and I keep saying this, he was probably one of the best co-stars that I've had the pleasure of working with, because he helps you give your best in that he'll come and help set the atmosphere before a scene.

"He'll crack a few jokes if it's funny scene, or if not he'll stay quiet or aloof and not talk to us too much, and when it's a serious scene he's like a tuning fork."

Mittal also made a point of ensuring the Mad Men star had a real taste of India.

"I did get him a recipe for my mom's dal makhani He had tears in his eyes when he ate it. I wanted him to taste something authentic and obviously the stuff we had on set was a bit mild even with their palette, and I wanted him to try something. He was very nice, he had tears in his eyes but he was enjoying it. He took down the recipe, which I'm pretty sure he's never going to cook again."

Ciardi explained that the film's producers were committed to ensuring the portrayal of India and its people was authentic and respectful of the culture.

"That was the point of doing it, and being there, and shooting in places, and the look of it, to reflect what JB saw. We wanted it to be authentic and we wanted to have fun with it, but also see the frustrations when JB's over there and see the frustrations with the boys when they're dropped in LA.

"It's this double 'fish out of water' story which was so fun telling, but you've got to tell both sides right. You're going to want to have Indians watch the film and go, 'That feels authentic and realistic', and conversely on the other side the same thing. All the movies about sport, you have to get the sport right. You have to have people buy into it. If they don't feel it's authentic, then the movie's going to feel false."

Summing up the underlying message of the film, Ciardi said: "It's a story of hope. An underdog story of making dreams come true. What we'd like to say is that these kids in these villages don't even have dreams, and Rinku and Dinesh's story will let kids have dreams, and see beyond the village and find success potentially. It's having heroes, and I think these boys will become heroes to many kids."